Theory of Crisis
Published on 5. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
228 pages
978-1-64259-790-5 (ISBN)
Description
Kozo Uno's Theory of Crisis presents an unparalleled and systematic demonstration of the inevitability of crisis under the capitalist mode of production.
Based on a radical re-interpretation of Marx's Capital, Uno's theory of crisis emphasizes "excess capital alongside surplus populations" and "the commodification of labour power" at the heart of Marx's theory of crisis, and additionally provides a concise overview of capitalist crises from the stage of mercantilism to the imperialist stage of capitalism. Included are two Appendix essays by Uno, which disentangle theoretical difficulties related to the theory of crisis in Marx's Capital, and two original and contemporary essays by scholars Makoto Itoh, Ken C. Kawashima and Gavin Walker.
This book was originally published in Japanese as Kyoko-ron by Iwanami Shoten, 1953.
Based on a radical re-interpretation of Marx's Capital, Uno's theory of crisis emphasizes "excess capital alongside surplus populations" and "the commodification of labour power" at the heart of Marx's theory of crisis, and additionally provides a concise overview of capitalist crises from the stage of mercantilism to the imperialist stage of capitalism. Included are two Appendix essays by Uno, which disentangle theoretical difficulties related to the theory of crisis in Marx's Capital, and two original and contemporary essays by scholars Makoto Itoh, Ken C. Kawashima and Gavin Walker.
This book was originally published in Japanese as Kyoko-ron by Iwanami Shoten, 1953.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
308 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64259-790-5 (9781642597905)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Kozo Uno (?? ??, November 12, 1897 - February 22, 1977) is one of Japan's most important Marxist economists, known for his logical 'purification' of Marx's exposition in Capital, and his theory of the historical stages of capitalist development.
Ken C. Kawashima is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and author of The Proletarian Gamble: Korean Workers in Interwar Japan (Duke, 2009), and co-editor of Tosaka Jun: A Critical Reader (Cornell, 2013).
Gavin Walker is Associate Professor at McGill University, and author of The Sublime Perversion of Capital (Duke, 2016); editor of The End of Area (Duke, 2019 with Naoki Sakai) and The Red Years: Theory, Politics, Aesthetics in the Japanese '68 (Verso, forthcoming); editor and translator of Kojin Karatani's Marx: Towards the Centre of Possibility (Verso, 2020).
Ken C. Kawashima is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and author of The Proletarian Gamble: Korean Workers in Interwar Japan (Duke, 2009), and co-editor of Tosaka Jun: A Critical Reader (Cornell, 2013).
Gavin Walker is Associate Professor at McGill University, and author of The Sublime Perversion of Capital (Duke, 2016); editor of The End of Area (Duke, 2019 with Naoki Sakai) and The Red Years: Theory, Politics, Aesthetics in the Japanese '68 (Verso, forthcoming); editor and translator of Kojin Karatani's Marx: Towards the Centre of Possibility (Verso, 2020).
Content
Translator's Preface
Author's Preface
Uno Kozo, Kyoko Ron (Theory of Crisis)
Introduction
?1? Classical Phenomena of Crises
?2? The Theory of Crisis and Foreign Trade
?3? The Role of Commercial Capital in Relation to the Phenomena of Crisis
?4? The Possibility and Inevitability of Crisis in Capitalist Society
1 Prosperity
?1? The Accumulation of Capital in the Phase of Prosperity
?2? The Role Performed by Credit
?3? Speculative Development and the Rise in Prices
2 Crisis
?1? The Collision between the Profit Rate and the Interest Rate
?2? The Excess of Capital and the Excess (Surplus) of Populations
?3? The Destruction of the Value of Capital
3 Depression
?1? The Stagnation of the Reproduction Process
?2? Inaugurating New Accumulation through Improvements to the Production Process
?3? The Turn towards Prosperity
4 The Turnover Period of the Business Cycle
5 The Inevitability of Crisis in Capitalist Society
?1? Mechanical Inevitability and Historical Inevitability
?2? The Inevitability of Crisis and the Inevitability of Collapse
?3? The Theory of Crisis and the Analyses of Crises
Appendix 1: Problems of the Theory of Crisis in Capital
Appendix 2: Capital and the Demonstration of the Inevitable Ground of Crisis
Guiding Comments
? Makoto Itoh
Supplementary Essay: Uno Kozo's Theory of Crisis Today
? Ken C. Kawashima and Gavin Walker
Works Cited in Theory of Crisis
Index
Author's Preface
Uno Kozo, Kyoko Ron (Theory of Crisis)
Introduction
?1? Classical Phenomena of Crises
?2? The Theory of Crisis and Foreign Trade
?3? The Role of Commercial Capital in Relation to the Phenomena of Crisis
?4? The Possibility and Inevitability of Crisis in Capitalist Society
1 Prosperity
?1? The Accumulation of Capital in the Phase of Prosperity
?2? The Role Performed by Credit
?3? Speculative Development and the Rise in Prices
2 Crisis
?1? The Collision between the Profit Rate and the Interest Rate
?2? The Excess of Capital and the Excess (Surplus) of Populations
?3? The Destruction of the Value of Capital
3 Depression
?1? The Stagnation of the Reproduction Process
?2? Inaugurating New Accumulation through Improvements to the Production Process
?3? The Turn towards Prosperity
4 The Turnover Period of the Business Cycle
5 The Inevitability of Crisis in Capitalist Society
?1? Mechanical Inevitability and Historical Inevitability
?2? The Inevitability of Crisis and the Inevitability of Collapse
?3? The Theory of Crisis and the Analyses of Crises
Appendix 1: Problems of the Theory of Crisis in Capital
Appendix 2: Capital and the Demonstration of the Inevitable Ground of Crisis
Guiding Comments
? Makoto Itoh
Supplementary Essay: Uno Kozo's Theory of Crisis Today
? Ken C. Kawashima and Gavin Walker
Works Cited in Theory of Crisis
Index